Gov't, MILF to resume talks on wealth sharing issue

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government and the country's largest anti-government group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will resume peace negotiations on wealth sharing in Malaysia today.

Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF Vice Chairman for political affairs, said Sunday the peace panel is expected to present the MILF's position on the issue to their government counterpart.

Talking about the guidance of MILF leadership to their peace panel, Jaafar said, "The guidance is to present the position of the Central Committee, discuss the position of the MILF."

"We are monitoring the progress of the negotiations," Jaafar added.

The wealth-sharing is one of the three remaining issues to be settled under the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by government and MILF negotiators in October last year.

Jaafar had earlier accused the Philippine government of deliberately delaying the signing of a final peace agreement for reneging on its commitment to return to the negotiating table immediately after the May elections.

He said that they were disgusted over the government's proposal to amend the already-initialed wealth-sharing agreement. He said they would mostly likely reject the proposal.

The MILF has been fighting government troops for decades to establish a self-ruling Muslim state in southern Philippines.

The Aquino administration and the MILF formally signed the framework agreement on Oct.15 of 2012, a road map for final political settlement to end the decades-long armed struggle in southern Philippines.

However, the two sides have not reached agreements on the three Contentious issues -- wealth sharing, power sharing and " normalization", or the laying down of arms by the MILF and reassimilation of its fighters into society.